The pupils, from Barking and Dagenham College, Dagenham Rd, Romford, competed in Lloyds Bank’s Money for Life Challenge, which aims to inspire better money management skills in local communities across the UK.

They impressed a panel of judges and were shortlisted from 300 entries.

After being awarded a £500 grant from Money for life, they made a film emphasising the dangers of pay day loan companies.

They produced an educational worksheet about the choices of the actors in the film and made evaluation forms to assess the impact of their presentation.

Alexis said: “It’s so exciting to make it through to the national final of the Money for Life Challenge. Money management is such an important skill and we have really enjoyed creating the project.

“We believe that our project has already made some people think differently about money through what we’ve achieved and can’t wait to meet the judges and other teams at the national final in April.”

The teenagers will now join four other England teams whose projects have shown that they have what it takes to improve not just their own money management skills, but those of their friends and families too.

The final will take place at London Zoo on April 2 and each team will present their projects to a judging panel.

The winners will be given £1,000 to donate to a charity of their choice and each member of the team will receive £50 worth of shopping vouchers.

The student’s sponsor, Richard Burns from Barking and Dagenham College, said: “I’m so proud of Pathways and I’ve been bowled over by their commitment to make their project a success.”

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